


Compromise and Cuddling

by silverrstardust



Category: RWBY
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Volume 5 (RWBY), Ruby Rose (RWBY) Needs a Hug, Sort Of, Team RNJR - Freeform, Team as Family, comfort is received when needed and its beautiful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29044776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverrstardust/pseuds/silverrstardust
Summary: The battle of Haven ends in a victory, and Teams RWBY and JNPR are getting ready for bed. There's just one problem... Ruby doesn't feel ready to leave Team RNJR yet.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee & Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna & Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc & Lie Ren & Ruby Rose & Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc & Ruby Rose, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose & Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose & Yang Xiao Long, Yang Xiao Long/Blake Belladonna
Comments: 1
Kudos: 78





	Compromise and Cuddling

**Author's Note:**

> Im soft for platonic team cuddling, okay? Leave me be.

Given the world-saving circumstances of their situation- fighting an ancient evil with the odds stacked against them- the idea of a sleepover seems completely ridiculous and childish and _way_ too domestic for it to be appropriate. 

The truth is, Ruby doesn’t feel comfortable leaving RNJR. Though overjoyed that Blake, Yang and Weiss have come back to her side, she’s grown used to the sleeping habits of Nora, Jaune and Ren. She’s used to hearing Nora’s hog-like snoring, Ren’s relaxed hums every minute she’s pressed against his side, and Jaune’s restless shifting and his deep breaths. In the late hours when she found herself plagued by nightmares on their trek to Haven, their nightly noises were enough to calm her down and lull her back to sleep.

Ruby sighs heavily as she waits for her teammates to finish getting ready for bed, drawing her cape around her. Would it be too weird to ask? Especially since the four of them haven’t even been in the same room together for so long? Would it be too soon? 

“Everything okay, Rubes?” Yang finally emerges from the hallway, looking refreshed and exhausted. She yawns, stretching with both arms before reaching over to detach her prosthetic. Ruby watches as she places it carefully on the bedside table, and has to stop her breath from hitching. She still gets shaken sometimes when she sees Yang without it. But detaching it seems to come with ease, so much so you would almost think losing it was just as easy.

It was anything but. Ruby had lived through that truth.

“Ruby?” Ruby shakes herself to awareness and throws a smile on her face. 

“Yep! Just fine!” 

“Okay, but you’re still in your combat gear, _and_ you’re wrapped in your cape like a burrito,” Yang gives her a sideways frown. “Come on, I know you, sis. What’s wrong?”

Ruby bites her lip, finding the words tricky to form, when Blake and Weiss drift into the room, and Ruby winces as the tension returns, even though they’re having a light conversation.

“I _still_ can’t believe you lost it on some lady at a party,” Blake is saying with a chuckle, and Ruby lightens up a bit as the two girls recap what happened when the team was apart. It’s a little forced, but Ruby can tell it’s genuine. 

“It was worth it,” Weiss decides with a smirk. She turns to face the two sisters, but sees that Ruby and Yang are staring very intensely at each other. Weiss gives Ruby a look, then eyes her up and down. “You’re not even dressed yet.”

“Ah, well,” Ruby says with an awkward laugh, looking down disheartenedly at the floorboards. She feels the mattress space next to her sink as Yang occupies it, wrapping her arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze. 

“Is something… wrong?” Blake asks anxiously, and Ruby is hit with a pang of guilt. With Blake back, she’s been trying to not make things stressful for her. Being away from her team has made her distant and disconnected from them, and Ruby finds that it’s easier for her to adapt if Ruby makes the water a little less rapid for her to test. But the waters are churning, and Ruby sees the uncertainty in Blake’s eyes.

“No!” Ruby assures them, shooting up and out of Yang’s hold. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s actually kind of silly and really not important anyways- I’ll just go get ready for bed, since I’m really tired from the battle!” Ruby yawns, making a good show out of it. While the yawn is convincing and real enough, the rest of it seems to have no effect.

Ruby tries to escape, but she shouldn’t have done it by attempting to slide between Blake and Weiss. Both girls immediately grab onto her and push her back in the little ring they have going. And she’s the ring leader. If she hadn’t just been trying to escape her anxiety, she might’ve laughed at the poorly timed joke. 

“Look it’s just…” Ruby folds her arms. “Kind of stupid. It’s hard to explain.”

“It’s not stupid if it’s bothering you,” Weiss begins with a sigh . “Please? You always say we can confide in you when something is bothering us. Let us return the favour.” 

Ruby stiffens at first when she feels something touch her from behind, but then she realizes that it’s Yang’s hand slipping into hers. Ruby relaxes and gives her hand a squeeze, and too tired to argue, sits back on the bed besides Yang.

“I don’t know if I can sleep here.”

Ruby squeezes her eyes shut, and buries her face into her sister’s shoulder with shame. The room is silent, and she can feel the heavy tension of the darkness across her vision slowly squeezing against her, but it’s better than seeing their hurt expressions. It’s better than seeing them hate her so much that they’d leave her again. 

“What do you mean by that?” She hears Weiss ask.

“I mean.” Ruby pauses, taking a shaky breath before continuing. “I mean, it’s nothing to do with you guys, I’m so glad and so relieved that we’re all together again but… I don’t think I’m ready to leave Team RNJR yet.”

Ruby opens her eyes again just in time to see the three girls exchange confused glances. “Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren aren’t going anywhere just because we’re here for you now.”

Ruby groans. “I _know_ that, Weiss!” She exclaims. “But it’s just... we were on the road together for so long that I… kind of got used to them. Being around them. I can’t explain it.”

“No, Rubes,” Yang sighs, letting go of her hand to wrap her prosthetic arm around her shoulders. “We get it. I… kind of hated sleeping by myself at home. It was too quiet and empty.”

“You could’ve come to sleep in our room,” Ruby offers weakly.

“And let you see me like that all the time? Especially after acting like such an aaaa- absolute jerk towards you? No… I’d just make you miserable.”

“Yang-”

“But enough about me,” Yang cuts her off. “You got pretty close with JNPR, huh?” She says with a small smile. 

“Yeah,” Ruby admits. “We went through a lot together. It’d be weird separating from them now.”

“Okay!” Yang springs up from the bed. “Operation Help Ruby Get to Sleep by Announcing a Sleepover Against Team JNPR’s Will is a go! Anyone who approves, say ‘aye’!” 

“Aye!” Both Weiss and Blake exclaim immediately. 

Ruby is offended, jaw hanging low. “Why did that work with Yang?! You never said ‘aye’ when I did it! This is mutiny!”

When the girls head over to Team JNPR’s room after waiting for Ruby to shower and get ready for bed, the team is surprised but the offer isn’t unwelcome.

“I’d miss having my little teddy bear around!” Nora exclaims, proceeding to pounce on Ruby and squeeze her tight. Ruby grins at the warm, giddy affection. “I couldn’t bear the thought of sleeping without her tonight!”

“You could say she couldn’t _teddy_ _bear_ it.” Yang says with a smirk, to which Ren proceeds to grab a pillow from his bed and throw it in her face (to which Yang responds with hostility, “Okay, _Mr. Ren_ , you wanna _go_?”). Blake covers her face and groans into her palm with disappointment.

“Besides Jaune was stressing out trying to get to sleep earlier,” Nora continues, completely ignoring Ren and Yang’s antics. “He kept tossing and turning more than ever, and I think it’s because Ruby wasn’t there to stop him from squishing her.”

“What?!” Jaune exclaims. When the group slept on the road together, Ruby was usually in the middle of Nora and Jaune. Jaune tended to toss and turn aggressively some nights so they came up with a system where Ruby would be on one side and Ren on the other. Ruby was so small that Jaune had a fear of crushing her in her sleep, which they figured was why the system ended up working to calm his body down. 

Jaune continues to stutter. “Th-that's! That’s not true! That’s completely ridiculous! Nora, shut up!”

“Soooo… Operation Sleepover it is?” Weiss asks.

Nora’s eyes light up with what can only be described as feral joy. “ _Yes!”_

The next thirty minutes are spent gathering as many pillows and blankets in the house as they can find, pushing aside the living room table and making a nest on the floor. It looks a lot comfier than it actually is, but nobody seems to care as everyone starts to pile into the covers. 

Yang is the first to pounce, resting a foot on her knee and folding her hands beneath her head in a very laid back position. Nora launches herself into the covers, curling up and giggling cheerfully. Ren is very reluctant as he approaches, placing himself with his legs neatly folded beneath him against Nora’s back. Nora sighs contentedly. 

Weiss is next to join in, although a little hesitantly. She’s probably never been to a sleepover before. She frowns, but then Yang gives her a look of reassurance and it's apparently enough for the ex-heiress to cuddle up beside her. Blake too joins them, very nervously hugging her arms. She looks to Weiss silently, waiting for permission, and Weiss rolls her eyes and grabs her wrist to pull her in. Blake yelps as she’s dragged downward and a blanket is thrown over her head by Yang. 

Ever the patient leaders, Jaune and Ruby stand silently by and watch their teammates take their preferred spots. Everyone on the floor glances up at the two leaders with a disapproving frown. “What’s the hold up, already?” Nora whines with a deadpan. 

“Come on, Jaune,” Ren holds out an arm. “You don’t want to deal with a grumpy Nora before bed. _Trust me.”_ He shudders. Nora chuckles, and Jaune sighs in defeat. Ren shifts a bit so that Jaune can lie between the two of them. 

“That leaves you, Rubes,” Yang says. She pats the empty spot between her and Nora. “Come on.”

Exhaustion suddenly overcoming her, Ruby wilts, finally succumbing to the weariness of the battle. She feels Yang shift closer to her, and Ruby basks in her sister's natural warmth. She tucks her knees inward into a fetal position, burying her head into Yang’s shoulder.

Nora, still insistent on using Ruby as a teddy bear, reaches out with her sloth-like arms to wrap them around her stomach. Ruby hums with contentment and lets her eyes drift closed. She hears the others shifting around and getting comfortable, following her lead with unwavering loyalty. She feels Yang tugging blankets around both of them, and then sighs as she runs her hand through Ruby’s hair.

“Goodnight, sis.” 

It's the best sleep Ruby has had in a long time. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ruby and Jaune are troubled and deserve all the cuddles. Nora using Ruby as a teddy bear is peak softness and you can't convince me otherwise. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
